Chapter 112 Aren’t You Going to Sit Closer to Me?
Stella was surprised that even Lisa had noticed her jealousy, which meant that Miles would definitely notice her jealousy if she were to go to him now. Back when Miles was playing chess with Kevin, he commented that women liked to conduct spot checks, which was something that he didn’t seem to like. Therefore, she began hesitating about going to his office and took a step back. After all, she didn’t want to be perceived as a narrow-minded woman by him.
Meanwhile, Miles was waiting for her in his office. Coincidentally, Yulia’s text arrived. ‘Stella just left when you got to my house.’
Yulia already guessed that Stella might have seen Miles when his phone beeped with an incoming message at her house, which she assumed was from Stella. Seeing that Miles went away in a hurry after that, she supposed that something must have gone awry. Thus, she didn’t tell Miles that Stella had just left until he had gotten out of her house as well. She had done all these just for the sake of stirring up a misunderstanding between them after realizing that Miles hadn’t been honest with Stella.
With a frown on his face, Miles could easily see through what Yulia was up to. Why is she being so conniving? he wondered. On the other hand, he surmised that Stella must have seen him enter Yulia’s house, which was why she asked him that question. However, a smile tugged on the corner of his lips, for he was curious to see how Stella would look when she did a spot check on him out of jealousy like a married woman.
Just when he was thinking so, his phone beeped with a message from Lisa, who knew what happened between him and Stella back when they were in Murdough. Therefore, her relationship with Miles had become closer, so she would occasionally send him some personal messages like this. ‘Mr. Grant, Stella is here. She has quite a jealous look on her face though.’
She wrote it as if she was expecting to have a good laugh while watching them from the sidelines. When Miles read it, he smiled in resignation. She seems to enjoy watching me suffer.
After a while, he got another message from her. ‘Mr. Grant, I think Stella might have left.’
Frowning, he then saw Stella leaving the office building resolutely and hastily from where he stood on the corridor. Huh, she must be jealous! But she also seems to be in a hurry.
In fact, Stella was indeed in a hurry, for she just got a message from Matthew about an urgent task. Having decided that visiting Miles wasn’t on the top of her list, and that she didn’t want him to see her looking jealous, she left at the thought of the embarrassment she would have to go through.
After that, they hadn’t kept in touch for a few days. Both knew the other would be in Hollowcrest City, so they didn’t contact each other since they knew the other would be nearby.
One day, she fell asleep in her office chair due to exhaustion. Coincidentally, Matthew could see clearly that she was asleep when he passed by, for the door of her office was made of glass. He carefully entered her office, and from the sofa at the side, he picked up a blanket to cover it over her. Initially, he didn’t want to wake her when he was leaning closer to her, but he still ended up waking her due to her light sleep. As if frightened by his presence, she cried, “Miles—”
She’s still calling out to him. Matthew was startled by her reaction. On the other hand, Stella only saw it was Matthew who was trying to drape a blanket over her. Feeling awkward over calling out Miles’ name despite the fact that he was just being kind, she apologized smilingly. “I’m sorry that I fell asleep, Mr. Xenon!”
“It’s okay. I know you’re tired,” he replied casually, and then left after handing her the blanket.
Soon, the employees in her company began spreading rumors about Stella and Matthew, for one of them saw Matthew from the back when she passed by Stella’s office, and he seemed to be kissing Stella. The rumors got more and more exaggerated as it was circulated. In the end, it was purported that Matthew was the one who sent Stella to study in America, arranged for her to work in Amon, and had her social insurance and housing fund registered under Hollowcrest City.
Unfortunately, Miles had caught wind of the rumors. Therefore, he texted Matthew and Stella respectively one afternoon to invite them over for a meal since they hadn’t met for a long while. Initially, neither of them knew Miles had invited them both, so they were surprised when they found out what he did. Since Matthew was about to go meet Miles anyway, he brought Stella along without thinking too much about it.
When they arrived at the hotel, they saw Miles leaning back in his chair while ordering food with a waiter from the menu. When he looked up inadvertently, he noticed that Matthew and Stella had arrived together. Meanwhile, neither Stella nor Matthew noticed anything wrong when they sat down.
A moment later, Miles smiled when he said, “Oh, I should’ve invited Jane as well. Didn’t she fancy you?”
Matthew wore a slightly awkward expression when he heard that. At the same time, Stella was hit with a sudden realization. Jane likes Matthew? I never knew that. No wonder Matthew would introduce her to assist me. We also have good rapport.
Other than that, she also came to understand why Miles invited them for a meal. Judging from his knowing smile, she knew that he did so to remind her to keep her distance with Matthew. However, she didn’t know that Miles had caught wind of the rumors, so she couldn’t understand why he felt the need to do so when nothing outrageous happened between Matthew and her. Therefore, she cast Matthew an awkward glance.
After that, Matthew said, “I’m fine with inviting Jane over. The more the merrier.”
Then, Miles turned to look at Stella. “Aren’t you going to sit closer to me?” Miles had booked a large roundtable, so there were more seats than people around the table. Since Stella came with Matthew, she instinctively sat next to him, so there was an empty seat between Miles and her. Based on Miles’ understanding, the distance between two people indicated how close a relationship they shared, which was why he asked that question.
Upon hearing Miles’ comment, Stella realized she wasn’t actually seated in an appropriate position, so she stood up to move next to Miles, leaving two seats between her and Matthew. Meanwhile, Matthew was calling Jane to invite her to join them. On the other hand, Miles continued to order their food. “Stella, what would you like to eat?”
“I’m fine with anything,” she said casually.
“What about you, Matthew?” Miles then glanced at Matthew.
“Me too.” After all, Matthew was socially adept, so he knew early on that Miles had a hidden agenda when he invited them over for a meal. Therefore, he agreed to have Jane attend the event even though he didn’t have any feelings for her.
Jane was an absolutely innocent lady; she simply chatted with Miles happily after joining them. On the contrary, both Matthew and Stella didn’t speak much, for they knew Miles’ intention for inviting them over. Hence, Stella merely focused on eating without saying too much.
At the same time, she was also observing Jane’s expression while the latter observed Matthew. Sure enough, Jane was blushing when she casted furtive glances at Matthew, looking just like a teenage girl who was in love. Although she was sitting beside Matthew, she kept on talking to Miles about fun stuff that happened in her office.
“How has your sister been doing?” Miles inquired.
When Stella heard him mention Yvonne, she couldn’t help but slow down.
“My sister? She has been busy with work recently. She’s a doctor after all. You know that we haven’t really been keeping in touch ever since we were younger.” Jane seemed to have no idea on how to handle her relationship with Yvonne.
After finishing their meal, each with their own thoughts in mind, Miles asked Matthew, “Aren’t you going to send Jane home?”
Throughout the meal, Miles seemed to be constantly having the upper hand against Matthew, so Matthew could only defer to him. After Matthew left with Jane, Miles held Stella’s hand as they got into his car.
While on their way to Stella’s house, Miles asked, “Do you know why I invited you all to the meal?”
“I didn’t think much of it at first, but I came to understand what happened after some time,” Stella replied in a soft voice. In fact, his covert reminder left her feeling embarrassed. However, she still was confused about why he would do that when nothing happened between her and Matthew. Therefore, she asked, “But I don’t understand why you would want to do that.”
Miles snorted. “Do you really not understand my reasons?” She grunted in response, to which he replied, “Think about it if you don’t understand.”
After dropping her off at her home, he drove away without the slightest bit of hesitation.
Two days later, Zane called to tell her that he had won the bid of the project, but the person-in-charge would have to go sign a contract at three in the afternoon. Since they were short on time, Zane wanted to know if she would be able to go to Murdough right away; he was willing to reimburse her transportation fees.
His request caused her to instinctively frown. The reason she was hesitant to allow Zane to operate his business under the name of her father’s factory was because she didn’t want to get into too much contact with him, but as things stood, it seemed inevitable. Initially, she wanted to decline his request, but she figured she should at least seek Miles’ opinion, for she had an agreement with Zane. After all, she was a newbie in business dealings, so there were a lot of rules and traps that she had no idea about.
Unexpectedly, Miles’ phone was switched off. On the other side, Zane was pressing for an answer, for he was running out of time. Matthew saw the frown on Stella’s face when he passed by her office, so he asked if anything was wrong. Therefore, she told him everything from the beginning till the end, including the contract she signed with Zane. She also informed him that Miles’s phone was switched off, and he didn’t pick up his landline in the office as well, so she was at a loss of what to do.
After some thought, Matthew told her, “Miles must have thought of the repercussions since he was the one who instructed you to sign a contract with Zane. Come on, I’ll go to Murdough with you. I’ll wait outside when you’re signing the contract.”
She was more reassured upon hearing that. Later on, they bought flight tickets to Murdough. Before boarding the plane, she gave Miles a text to inform him of her situation, as well as Matthew’s decision, just so she could get his opinion. She assumed that he would be fine with it, as both her and Matthew came to the same conclusion regarding the matter. After that, the two of them came up with a plan to have Matthew hide himself somewhere in case of any dangers, as Zane was a cunning man after all.
